Whiskey Lullaby
by Perverted monk Miroku
Summary: A songfic from a Brad Paisley song about what happens when you try to forget using alcohol.


FOREWORD: I do not own the rights to this song or these characters but the emotions I put into this fic come from my own heart and mind.  
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(She put him out like the burnin' end of a midnight cigarette. She broke his heart he spent his whole life trying to forget.)   
  
"Jounouchi! For the last time, I do not want to go out with you. I need someone who I know can support me in life and you just won't cut it."  
  
"Damnit, how do you know that Mai? It might work out between us if you'd only give us a chance!"  
  
"The answer stays, no."  
  
These were the words that kept going through Katsuya Jounouchi's mind. He thought that Kujaku Mai and he had become quite close but every time he would ask her out, she would turn him down. Maybe they're weren't close enough or maybe she just didn't feel the same. Many times he tried to forget his past feelings for her, but it's not human nature to forget feelings.   
  
(We watched him drink his pain away a little at a time. But he never could get drunk enough to get her off his mind.)  
  
He eventually turned to drinking to help him forget. It worked for awhile but she still came back to his mind, so he started to drink more and more. His friends and little sister started to worry about him. About his drinking and where it might lead to. They asked him numerous times to quit. But he just told them that a little drinking never hurt anybody. Truthfully he knew it was hurting Yuugi, Honda, Anzu, Ryou, and especially his sister Shizuka, to see him like this. He kept on though, thinking it was the only way to forget.  
  
(Until the night....)  
  
One night while hanging out with everyone, the memories of Mai's once again came back and hit Jounouchi harder than they ever had.  
  
"Hey you guys, I think I'm gonna head home. All this running around has taken it's toll on me." Jounouchi said smiling, trying not to let his pain show.  
  
"Ah, come on. You can't be tired yet Jounouchi. We haven't been out very long." Yuugi told him.  
  
"Yeah big brother, stay with us just a bit longer." Shizuka spoke up.  
  
"Sorry sis but I really am beat."  
  
Honda pulled Jounouchi aside and asked, "Hey, you aren't thinking about going home and drinking are you? I mean, your not thinking about Mai still right?"  
  
"Don't worry man, I'm fine. Be sure to watch Shizuka for me." He replied. "I'll see you guys tomorrow. We'll have some real fun then!"  
  
And with that he turned and left for his house.  
  
(He put that bottle to his head and pulled the trigger. And finally drank away her memory. Life is short but this time it was bigger. Than the strength he had to get up off his knees. )  
  
Jounouchi entered the door and set down a sack of some bottles he picked up from a nearby liquor store. He took out the bottles of some of the weak drinks and started pouring himself shots. Time went by and bottles became empty but still she was there in his head. Dancing in all her eloquent beauty, like an angel, never touching the ground.   
  
He looked into the bag to see what he had left and found a bottle of whiskey. And with a great sigh Jounouchi put the bottle to his lips and drank it all away. The empty bottle crashed to the ground as he fell to his knees and wept.  
  
"I can't do this anymore. It's just too tough damnit!" He cried as he hit the ground with his fists, tears streaming down his face. After a bit he managed to drag himself in his bed and on a pad of paper scribbled some words before he passed out, face in his pillow.  
  
Later into the night Honda brought Shizuka home and she invited him in the house. It didn't take long for them to see, something was very wrong..  
  
"Look at all these bottles. Oh my god, Honda! You don't think Jounouchi drank all of these do you? Shizuka exclaimed.  
  
"I don't know Shizuka, but look around the house for him. God let's hope he's ok.."   
  
(We found him with his face down in the pillow. With a note that said I'll love her till I die.)   
  
"Honda! Honda, come here quick! I.. I found him!" Shizuka yelled, sounding as though she was on the verge of tears.  
  
"What is it Shizuka?" He asked, running in through the doorway. And there he saw him. Jounouchi was laying face down in his bed, still in the clothes he was wearing last night. Honda lifted Jounouchi's arm to feel for a pulse then lowered his arm and pulled the blanket over him. "I'm so sorry Shizuka." He sighed. "Jounouchi's.... he's gone."  
  
"No. He can't be gone. He.. he said we we're all going to go out and have fun tomorrow." She said as she broke down and hide her face in her hands.  
  
"It's a major loss for us all." Putting his arm around her shoulder.  
  
"Honda? This... this was in his hand. I... I think you should read it."   
  
Shizuka handed Honda the note and placed her head back in her hands as he began to read. The ink looked smeared and the paper tear-stained, but still eligible.  
  
_To all of my friends,  
  
First off, I'm sorry. Sorry for lying to you all. I came home to drink because Mai's memory did come back to me. I know how disappointed you all must be with me. My heart is just not as strong as I thought it to be. And I don't think I can continue on. I feel like I'm getting weaker so I will hurry with this. Yuugi, thank you for being such a best friend to me. You also, Honda. We've been like a team. Ryou, I'm sorry I couldn't get to know you better but I know you were a great guy. Anzu, I want you to take care of Shizuka. She needs a girl to be there for her for those things that I can't or don't know how to deal with. Sis, I love ya a lot and I'm sorry I've been like this. I'll always be with you no matter what.  
  
I also want to say something to Mai. I know we didn't have a chance to be together like I would have wished but all the same, I'm glad we met and knew each other. And I want you to know Mai, that I will love you until I die, and still will after my death.  
  
Katsuya Jounouchi  
Greatest duelist ever_  
  
"I can't believe this. She wasn't worth this Jounouchi! Not with your life!" Honda screamed at him but he knew it was too late to do anything. With a sigh he turned towards Shizuka, "I'm going to call the others and tell them what happened. Come on Shizuka." And he led her out of the room, closing the door behind him.  
  
(And when we buried him beneath the willow. The angels sang a whiskey lullaby.)  
  
Everyone decided the proper place to lay Jounouchi down was under an old Weeping Willow tree where he used to play as a kid. The rain fell lightly as though it was crying itself for him. Few showed up to pay their respects, not because they didn't care, just that they didn't want to accept that this happened. Those who did attend were Yuugi, Honda, Anzu, Ryou, Shizuka, Kajiki Ryouta, Otogi Ryuuji and also Mai. Kaiba Seto could not attend but he sent his regards and apologized for not coming by paying for the flowers and the funeral service.  
  
"Ashes to ashes and dust into dust. Father we pray you welcome this young man into your warm and gentle arms. Amen." Said the preacher, finishing up. Everyone started passing by the coffin, saying their last words. And when they had finished, they lowered Jounouchi down into the ground.  
  
(La la la la la la la.)  
  
They all stood there awhile, not a word between them. Finally when the rain stopped and they started to leave. As Yuugi was getting into one of the cars he looked back one last time and noticed someone still standing there, Kujaku Mai.  
  
"Hmph. Hope this put some sense in her. Because of her we lost a friend. You killed him Mai, you killed him." Yuugi muttered angrily as he closed the door and rode off, wondering why she bothered to show up.  
  
(The rumors flew but nobody knew how much she blamed herself. For years and years she tried to hide the whiskey on her breath. She finally drank her pain away a little at a time. But she never could get drunk enough to get him off her mind.)  
  
"Why... why would you do something like that? Just because I wouldn't go out with you? Jounouchi..... did you really love me that much. If I would of known... I just thought it was some kind of puppy love, something you would have got over. Everybody's right when they say this my fault. If I would have said something, in fact I really liked you Jounouchi, I didn't know how strongly though. "  
  
Mai always thought this to herself, particularly when she drank. She would sit at the bar, watching the strangers around her in anger. Thinking they all thought that she didn't care about Jounouchi at all even if they didn't know who he or she was.  
  
"Bartender, another round please." She told the man behind the counter.  
  
"Ma'am I think you've had enough. I'll call you a cab home."  
  
"Forget it, I'll walk home." She got up from her stool and pulled a piece of gum out of her purse. She bought a lot of this kind of gum over the years. It quickly and easily masked the smell of the whiskey on her breath.  
  
(Until the night...)  
  
Mai flipped on the light as she entered her apartment and threw her keys on the counter. The answering machine read no messages and frankly she wasn't surprised. She stopped getting calls a few months back. The loneliness was starting to affect her and she couldn't stand it. She wanted her pain to end right there that night.  
  
She looked all though her house for any kind of alcohol but with no success. Then she remembered something and ran into her bedroom and pulled from under the bed a bottle of various liquors she had mixed some time before. She stood up and pulled out a of Jounouchi from her dresser and looked at it for a while.  
  
"Well be together soon enough Jounouchi."  
  
(She put that bottle to her head and pulled the trigger. And finally drank away his memory. Life is short but this time it was bigger. Than the strength she had to get up off her knees.)  
  
With tears rolling down her face Mai opened the bottle and put it to her mouth. She tried her best to drink it all in one drink but she started to choke. The bottle shattered on the ground as she went to her knees gasping for air. Soon was all kept thinking. Soon enough and they would be together.  
  
The mixed alcohol was having a negative effect on her and everything started to go blurry to her. She crawled up into her bed and reached out for Jounouchi's picture before it all went dark.  
  
(We found her with her face down in the pillow. Clinging to his picture for dear life.)  
  
"Are you sure you want to do this Shizuka?" Anzu asked as they walked up the stairs to Mai's apartment. "What if she doesn't want to accept your apologizes?"   
  
"Look, I want to tell her I'm sorry about blaming her for my big brother's death. I've let anger keep a hold of me for too long now. Besides, Jounouchi would have wanted me to do it." Was Shizuka's reply.  
  
They reached her the door to her apartment and knocked on the door. No one answered. They knocked a bit harder but still no one answered. Anzu tried the doorknob and found that it wasn't locked, she opened the door and they both walked in.  
  
"Miss Mai, are you home?" Shizuka called out.  
  
"Ew. Looks like she hasn't cleaned in years. It's disgusting." Said Anzu as she walked around the house and stumbled into the bedroom. "Hey you! Why are y-" She stopped in mid-speech.  
  
"Anzu, what is it?" Shizuka asked as she made her way to where Anzu was.  
  
"Don't come in here Shizuka!"  
  
She stopped right where she was, right outside the door. Wondering why Anzu sounded so upset. She then came out of the bedroom, holding a picture in her hands. Tears were starting to roll down her cheeks. Anzu handed the picture to Shizuka as started to speak.  
  
"Mai.... Mai's gone now too. Probably the same way as Jounouchi. She had that picture of him in her hands. Maybe... maybe she really did love him back."  
  
Shizuka looked down at the picture of her older brother than looked back up towards Anzu, tears of her own now falling. "I know she did Anzu. I know she did."  
  
(We laid her next to him beneath the willow. While the angels sang a whiskey lullaby.)  
  
It took a lot of the money they had, but Shizuka and Anzu were able to bury Mai next to Jounouchi under the willow tree. It was only them two that showed up for the funeral. Everyone else was still angry at her and refused to come. And like before, the rain fell to the ground. Crying for the two loves who in this world were never together, but in the next, will never be apart.  
  
(La la la la la la la. La la la la la la la.) 


End file.
